Starting Batteries

[AWH]

Off of my starting battery, I will be running a number of accessories. Two depth finders, livewell, navigation lights, stereo. The majority of my fishing is for muskies and bass, so I spend most of my time casting and running the trolling motor. The outboard will mainly be used for running from spot to spot and that's about it.

So my question is this, if I have a battery that is a starting battery only, am I going to run into problems by running all of those accessories off of it? Or should I make sure to run a combination starting/deep cycle battery?

AWH

[Guest]

Get another battery or you must have a combo deep/start or you will fry the start battery.

------------------
MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/

[AWH]

D-Man,

Any recommendations on a good combo battery to get? I'm in the process of finalizing a boat deal. I brought this question up to the dealer, and he hadn't heard of a combination starting/deep cycle battery before.

Thanks,
AWH

[delmuts]

the deep cycles aren't designed for the big draw that starting a motor takes,but i have used and interstate for two years with out any problem. one thing is with the short hops you won't be putting much of a charge back into the battery, so you will want to put it on a charger once in a while to keep it up. if you are running two or three batteries i would highly recomend installing a onboard charger. they are handy and beats the daylights out of using an individual charger. del

[Guest]

AWH,

With everything that you will be running you will need a minimum of 2 batteries. One to start the boat and one to run the accessories. Running an onboard charger is an excellent idea as this will help to maintain your batteries and also will help to prevent you from ever being stranded in the middle of nowhere. Many electronic access. eat alot of juice and one battery probably won't be enough. Also if the dealer says that he hasn't heard of the combo battery, he either has been under a rock for over 5 years, or he's not being honest with you. Just my .02

Paul

[AWH]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

I will be running a Guest 3 bank on-board charger. My intention is to have it hooked up to my 24V trolling motor, and then run the 3rd bank back to the starting battery. So all 3 batteries would get charged whenever I'm off the water.

With that being said, am I still running a risk of draining my starting battery if I go with a high quality battery? Even if I am putting an extra charge into it after each use?

I honestly believe the dealer hadn't heard of the combination battery before. He seemed extremely knowledgeable and very upfront on everything else with me. So it surprised me when he said he hadn't heard of that. All he said is that's something he would have to do some research on. He said they get all their batteries through Batteries Plus, and rarely ever have any complaints about their batteries. He said a previous dealership he was at, battery complaints were common place. But he has heard of very few since he's been there.

I don't know much about batteries myself. One thing he said (and I didn't write it down) was that I could upgrade their starting battery from a 2700? to a 3100? something. I don't know what the numbers were pertaining to, or if those are even right. I know 27 and 31 sticks in my head though. Anyone know what that may have been pertaining to?

AWH

[AWH]

One more thing....

I have been under the impression that I definitely do not want to run my bow depth finder off of my bow mount trolling motor batteries. I can't remember the reason for this. But I got to thinking, the depth finder I'll have on the bow is just a cheap, very basic unit, only running at 600 watts of peak to peak power. Is there any reason I can't run this off of my 24V trolling motor set up? Would I run into interference problems when running both the trolling motor and depth finder off the same battery at the same time?

If I do this, that would at least save on some of the juice that's used off of my starting battery.

AWH

[Guest]

The 27 and 31 are the class in which the battery is in . 31 being the highest they are the biggest,weight more and cost more. A good rule of thumb on deep cycles is get the biggest you can fit in the boat. I would go with a group 31 for the trolling motor and use a 27 for your electronics or 31 if you can fit it. There arent many combo deep/starts out there. I spent $125.00 on a Trolling Thunder and got maybe a year out of it. Hawkner Energy said they would replace it if i sent it to them and bought one of their $90 chargers for it. So i junked it. Batteries Plus has combos but your better off with four batteries from what your describing. I have no complaints with Interstate either and very satisfied with the Minn-kota mk30 and mk20 3 and 2 bank chargers. As far as the locator and batteries, you will get interference if you run them on the same battery. Your locators need independent power supply's...

------------------
MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/

[Guest]

Salesmen didnt know much about batteries? Dont surprise me. You must have bought your boat from the same place i did. Pierz Marine in Brainerd? If you have any more questions about your boat before the purchase, go to the service desk and talk to a tech. Those salesmen can sometimes only know how to write up a contract...

------------------
MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/

[AWH]

I'm not sure if I would have room for two batteries where the starting battery sits or not. I would have to take a look at the boat again.

When you say that the locators need an independent power source or I will run into interference, does this mean independent of each other, or just from my motor? In boats I've used before, I've never seen interference problems. But then I've never used quality electronics either. It's always been a really cheap locator hooked up to the starting battery. A locator that doesn't use much juice. My main locator on this boat will be an X-85.

AWH

[Guest]

They can be hooked up to one battery as long as they are different freqencies. Your x-85 is 192 khz.

------------------
MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/

[AWH]

Thanks for the info. Looks like I will have to make sure to have them hooked up to different batteries. Both of my locators run at 192 khz.